


All These Years

by shadowmxlec



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 11:34:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14810586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowmxlec/pseuds/shadowmxlec
Summary: Magnus Bane has been in love with Alec Lightwood since he moved into his apartment building when they were 8 years old but now Alec is leaving to go to California for college and Magnus can't help but think about their relationship and just what Alec means to him.





	All These Years

There wasn’t many things Magnus Bane was afraid of, he thought of himself as one of the bravest people he knew, but if there was one thing he was terrified of it was losing Alec Lightwood. The two of them had been best friends since the Lightwood family had moved into Magnus’ apartment building when the two of them were 8 years old and they had been inseparable ever since. Until now that was, Alec was about to head all the way to California to attend some fancy business college while Magnus was staying in New York for his internship with a fashion magazine and Magnus wasn’t quite sure how to deal with that fact. It wasn’t like he was going to be completely alone he’d still have Izzy, Clary, Simon and Maia in New York but it wasn’t the same as Alec they all still had their final year of high school to experience together and even if they were all together he’d only feel like a fifth wheel with the two couples. As much as Magnus would like to say they were the only reasons he feared Alec leaving there was one final reason he didn’t want him to go, he was completely and hopelessly in love with him and had been since they were eight.

He still remembers perfectly the day the Lightwoods had moved in to the apartment opposite his own. He’d spent the day out with his mother and as they returned home they had found a young boy and girl running about in the hallway while a woman stood in the doorway opposite theirs telling them to stop messing about and to start unpacking their stuff. The boy obliged straight away but the girl came bounding over to Magnus a bright smile on her face, “Hi, I’m Izzy and that was Alec but he’s super boring and always does what mom says. What’s your name? Do you live in this apartment? If you do we should be best friends, with Alec as well of course we can be like the 3 musketeers.” She said excitedly, anyone else probably would have been overwhelmed by all the questions but Magnus had always been a charmer even as a child and introduced himself, agreeing that they should all become best friends. The only other friend Magnus really had at that time was Clary and he only really got to see her at school or if she occasionally invited him to hang out at her house but usually Simon was there as well and Magnus tended to find him a bit nerdy. As he was about to head into his apartment, the boy from before came out, who he now knew was Alec and was telling Izzy to hurry up and get back inside before their mom started yelling at her. Now that Magnus could get a proper look at him, he could see that Alec was the most beautiful boy he’d ever seen with his big hazel eyes and hair flopping over his forehead. He hadn’t really been listening to the conversation between the two siblings, it wasn’t until he heard Izzy mentioning his name that he was brought back to reality. “Sorry Magnus, looks like Alec is being boring again today but I promise we can all hangout tomorrow, right Alec?” He heard Alec make a small hum of agreement and saw him briefly look in Magnus’ direction but didn’t get much else out of the boy before the three of them went back to their own apartments. 

The Lightwood siblings had kept their promise and spent the whole of the following day out with Magnus, they hadn’t got much further than the lobby of the apartment but that didn’t really matter much, they were all just grateful to be able to spend time away from their parents and have fun with people their own age. After Magnus had introduced Clary and Simon to Alec and Isabelle the five of them became their own little group and it was around that time that Magnus and Alec began to grow closer. They began spending more time just the two of them, whether it was to do homework or watching films or just sitting together on Magnus’ balcony talking endlessly for hours. It was during one of these chats that Alec had mentioned how much he missed his old treehouse from their last house and how he wished he could have something similar here that Magnus came up with the idea for them to make their own hideout for just the two of them. Alec had thought it was a ridiculous idea at first, claiming that there was no way there would be anywhere they could even have one in an apartment building, but when Magnus dragged him up to the roof and showed him the small hidden area that he sometimes hid out in he quickly changed his mind. The two of them spent the whole of the following weekend making it into the perfect hideout, taking as many things as possible from their apartments which they thought they were doing without their parents noticing, but looking back now Magnus was sure his mother actually did know and was just letting him get away with it.  
As the two of them got older it became a regular thing for the two of them to sneak out of their apartments at night and meet up at their little hideout. It was one of those nights when they were 14 that Magnus had come out to Alec and that was the first time he had been terrified of losing him. “Alec, can I tell you something?” He’d timidly asked, fiddling with the loose thread on the sleeve of his shirt. Alec had looked at him confused, having never seen Magnus like this before, usually he was the timid one and Magnus was constantly needing to reassure him, but he quickly encouraged Magnus that he could tell him anything. “I like boys, you know, like, romantically.” He had managed to stutter out, completely avoiding Alec’s gaze convinced that he would hate him now. “Oh, does that mean you’re gay?” Alec had asked with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, shifting his position so he could see Magnus properly. “Um, not quite because I still think girls are amazing and I would definitely date one. I was looking up about it on the internet the other night after you went back to bed, I think I’m bisexual.” He explained finally looking up to see Alec’s reaction and when he saw a small smile on his lips he had never felt more relieved. Neither of them had really said anything much after that but Magnus knew that Alec was thinking of saying something, just figuring out the right way to put it as he often did, so he waited. After some time, Alec finally opened his mouth to speak, “I have something I need to tell you as well Magnus, I was so scared because I didn’t know how you’d take it but I guess I didn’t need to worry.” The small smile returned to Alec’s face as he spoke, “The truth is I like boys too, like romantically, but I don’t like girls as well like you do.” After that the two of them spent the rest of the night laughing about how ridiculous it was that they hadn’t told each other sooner and as he thought about it now Magnus thought about how it would have been the perfect time to tell Alec about his feelings for him as well, but at that time he hadn’t completely figured out his feelings for Alec and he was terrified of risking their friendship and losing him completely.

As high school went on they spent less and less time up in their hideout with homework and extracurriculars getting in the way. Magnus remembers one night though not too far away from Alec’s 16th birthday that they Alec had text him at 2am asking him to come up to the roof. It wasn’t like Alec to be awake at that time, he usually went to sleep well before Magnus, so when he received the text he had been confused but as soon as he reached the roof it was clear Alec had been crying, his eyes were red and puffy and there were still some tears left on his face. Magnus didn’t say anything just sat down next to him and pulled him into his side and Alec immediately began crying again but this time into Magnus’ shoulder while Magnus soothingly ran his hands up and down his back telling him that it was all going to be okay. Once he had composed himself Alec told Magnus about how his parents had told him earlier that night that they were getting a divorce and that his father would be moving out of the apartment as he had been having an affair. Magnus had never gotten on too well with Robert, he knew that the older man didn’t like him much and often looked down on him for the way he dressed and his ‘lifestyle’ as Robert had put it once, but now Magnus knew he hated him. How could he be so heartless to do this to his family, and just days before Alec’s birthday no less. Alec had ended up cancelling his party for that year, not that he had wanted it in the first place, and instead spent the day curled up against Magnus in the Lightwood’s lounge watching movies with their little group. Maia had commented that day how cute they were together and Magnus couldn’t help but feel a pang in his chest when Alec was so quick to deny they were anything more than friends.

As their prom had neared, Magnus couldn’t believe what he was hearing when Alec had told him he wasn’t planning on going. “Alexander, have you forgotten who you’re talking to here, I’m head of the prom committee how can you tell me you aren’t going?” Magnus had questioned, he’d just assumed Alec would be there and they would go with their little group. “Come on Magnus, it’ll hardly be any fun for me. You’ll be busy with Catarina and Raphael making sure everything runs smoothly and I’ll be stuck with Simon and Maia and Clary and Izzy all being coupley and gross.” Magnus rolled his eyes at Alec’s answer, there was no way he was getting out of this so easily. He reassured him that he had made sure his duties on prom night would be limited so that he could spend as much time as possible and in the end, he managed to charm Cat into letting him have the whole night off much to Raphael’s annoyance. As they had watched their friends slow dancing together in their respective couples as the night drew to a close and Alec commented on how he said they would be gross like this Magnus wished that the two of them could be out there with them being ‘gross’ as Alec put it. Of course, he didn’t tell Alec that, instead he suggested they leave early and sneak up to their hideout like old times. It had been almost a year since they’d last been up there and they’d ended up falling asleep up there that night, legs entangled and Alec’s face close enough to his own that if Magnus had wanted to he could have kissed him very easily.

That had been just over a week ago and as Magnus sat up in their hideout alone reflecting on all of this, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was the end of something now. He hadn’t told Alec he was up here so when he appeared in front of him with a confused look on his face it shocked him a bit. “I didn’t realise you were up here, I was just coming up to get some of my blankets and cushions back so I can take them off to college with me.” Alec explained, as if he needed to come up with an excuse to come up there. “Are you telling me that you’re destroying the hideout after 10 years? I’m offended.” Magnus laughed, although there was a small part of him that was genuinely upset about it. This had always been their place and it hadn’t been altered in the 10 years since they made it, only replacing a couple of things when they had needed to. “You shouldn’t be. I’m only taking them so I’ll have a piece of you over in California with me.” Alec smiled shyly and for a second Magnus could’ve sworn he saw him blushing but he quickly pushed those thoughts away, if Alec had any feelings for him as more than a friend surely he would have known. He was brought out of his thoughts by Alec speaking again. “What are you doing up here anyway? It’s not like you need to collect any of it to take with you.” Magnus wasn’t quite sure how to respond to Alec, he would probably find it weird if he told him that he’d been thinking about them and their relationship and how he was desperately in love with him and had been for 10 years. “Just thinking, you know about the future and how much I’m going to miss being able to be like this with you when you leave.” All Alec gave in response to that was a small ‘oh’ that Magnus barely heard. The two of them sat in silence for a while after that and Magnus was convinced he’d weirded Alec out. Eventually Alec spoke again and Magnus couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “Magnus, I need to tell you something. It’s something I should’ve told you a long time ago but I was scared that you’d hate me or that I’d lose you but now that I’m leaving I guess I have nothing to lose. I love you, and not just as a friend. I have done since the day I met you.” Magnus was speechless, he could barely process what Alec had just told him. He loved him and had done for as long as Magnus had loved him. Once he finally found the courage to speak again and look Alec in the eye he noticed the look of sadness on Alec’s face, his lack of response obviously worrying him. “I love you too Alec. I always have but I was scared too and I don’t care that you’re leaving I’ve waited too long for this to happen for something like distance to get in the way.” A massive smile broke out onto Alec’s face and he knew he had one exactly the same on his own face. Before he knew it, he was leaning in hands on Alec’s cheeks as their lips finally pressed together for the first time. It was everything he had always imagined it to be and more and when they finally pulled away their smiles from before were even bigger if possible. “We’re idiots.” Alec laughed shaking his head before pulling Magnus back in for another kiss and Magnus couldn’t help but agree. They spent the next few hours up there just kissing and promising each other that they would make this work and when they eventually went back down to the Lightwood’s apartment with Alec’s cushions and blankets and their hands entwined they didn’t miss Izzy’s smirk and Clary yelling something that sounded like finally as they made their way through to Alec’s room.


End file.
